Ortega: The Peace of the Graves

Daniel Ortega’s speech on July 19 made three things clear:

First: That his will to perpetuate himself in power through blood and fire remains unchanged. He talked about elections in 2021 but added they are already set to win. How will they win fair elections if they are a minority? Simple, they are ready to commit another fraud. That is the meaning of what he said.

Second: That in order to stay in power, he is willing to continue murdering, persecuting, torturing and imprisoning Nicaraguans. Because every time Ortega decides to talk about peace, let’s be clear, he’s talking about war. If Ortega talks about peace, it means he will continue to make war on the Nicaraguan people. In 2018 he continued talking about peace and even when the whole world knew about the massacres. Because the “peace” of Ortega, is the peace of every tyrant. The peace of the graves.

Third: That the theater of the negotiating table was a ruse to gain time, weather the storm and maneuver to change the correlations of strength, both nationally and internationally.

The rest is the wrapping of lies that serve to sweet-talk his followers.

He had no remorse in presenting himself as a holy man: A catechist, pious and virtuous, in his attempt to manipulate the simplicity of the religious beliefs of the unwary. “There are no restrictions here for any church,” he exclaimed, while all Nicaraguans have been able to see live attacks on religious and faithful in Catholic temples by mobs commanded by regime minions.

Ortega himself took the lead in attacking the bishops last year, remember? He called them terrorists, coup plotters and a string of offenses. Now he plays the holy man.

And he had the confidence to proclaim that emigration is a right. He said that forms of aggression are being applied against migrants in a totally open, stark way.

Do you think we have already forgotten that to ingratiate yourself with the US government, you put a block on the border with Costa Rica to prevent thousands of Cubans traveling northward from Nicaraguan territory?

Do you think we already forget how they persecute and assault Africans, South Americans and Asians who intend to transit through Nicaraguan territory? Prison, death and infamous treatment is Ortega’s recipe to migrants.

Truly, Ortega’s ability for hypocrisy and lusts has no limits. Hardly anyone can surpass him.

But he said more. He talked about the sanctions. According to him, in order for a sanction to be applied it must be based on International Law, otherwise no State has the power to sanction. The State that acts in this way, he added, is simply committing crimes of an international nature.

What nerve!

Nothing more and nothing less than the violator of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The violator of the principles and norms of international human rights law. The same person that has been indicated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to commit crimes against humanity. The same person that has been indicated by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to commit crimes against humanity. The same ruler that has been condemned, worldwide, by the United Nations Council for Human Rights.

He is the same wolf who pretends to disguise with lambskin to criticize the sanctions. Sanctions hurt because they touch his money. Because so far the only punishment has been against the money of the ruling clique. The sanctions imposed on them have nothing to do with the poor or sovereignty.

Ortega announced the cancellation of the negotiating table. He closed it, for now. When he feels the need, to dig it up again, it will be with the same purpose: Distract, confuse and gain time.

Why did Ortega reopen the negotiation chapter and now close it?

Simple.

When he felt the rope tighten at his neck, he loosened. When he felt the rope loosen, he squeezed.

In the first dialogue (May-June 2018) the popular mobilization put him against the wall. He responded with dialogue to give himself time and prepare the massacre. In this second chapter (February-May 2019), when he observed that an operation was under way to displace Maduro from power, in Venezuela, with Guaido at his head, he calculated that it could be his turn next, exposed to the same destination. He was quick to open the dialogue table to show that a negotiated solution was under way in Nicaragua.

But the political process in Venezuela stagnated and showed the limits of the international community to deal with a mafia dictatorship. Guaido is recognized by more than 50 countries. Maduro’s government was separated from the OAS. But the ruling mafia continues to sink the Venezuelan people into disgrace. The monarch took the pulse and made his calculation: what they have not done to Maduro, they are not going to do to him either. And he tightened the screw.

The lesson we must draw from Ortega’s decision is the same as always, although sometimes some people forget: he only understands the language he uses. Therefore, if we want to defeat Ortega peacefully, the strategy must focus on intensifying internal and external pressures. To advance in that direction we must first put aside any meanness, blindness and personalisms.

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Regards,